Following the stars is an ingrained instinct. We've seen it in our pets. We've felt it on many a bright night. The stars are Nature's barest measure of security, and Man's narrowest hope of eternal life. Death, however inevitable, in the pursuit of our greatest dreams, creates heroes and grief. Our hearts go out to all the people harmed by the loss of Columbia and her crew.

Columbia was America's craft, but it had a multicultural crew, who completed the orbital mission serving the International Space Station. It is no mistake, nor mark of disrespect to consider what such a terrible fire in the sky means to those who live below, in times like ours.

Since the loss of various unmanned probes in the 1990s, we've been teasing NASA at this website every time some SF disaster date comes up (Jupiter II, Space: 1999, 2001) simply because it seemed a safe target. Perhaps we should have considered future ramifications; we have never desired to kick the innocent or bereaved. But we're comedians, and America is founded as a free country it's our responsibility to tease incompetent government.

Even George W. Bush found it hard to read the condolence speech and add his usual "may God continue to bless America." The Iraqi conjecture that the disaster is divine retribution is shallow and self-serving but burned wreckage across Texas is decidedly no blessing.

Space doesn't work with us very well. Out there, it takes cash to reap rewards that have little to do with cash. It takes determination to enter an environment largely indifferent to determination.

Space is far. Space is hard. Why do so many of us want to go? Probably the same reason that those who call for a push to Space are so easily ostracized by surly crowds of earth: In former times, those in an oppressive homeland got up and went elsewhere. With total-surveillance and anti-freedom initiatives spreading among nearly every government in the world, a desire to escape can only seem all the more natural.

After all, the skies above us were our ancestors' map to new lands, and the irrational proof of heaven. Whatever ill befalls Here, look up. There's always a There.

I found it an enormous flaw in 1984 that George Orwell had his Ministry of Love claim to have made the stars Being unchangable, the patent envy of such attention upon them would eventually crack the most devout fanatic's ardor. More to the point for once is C.S. Lewis, writing in The SIlver Chair, emphasizing the ancient lesson that one should live as if a better universe were always attainable, despite material rulers' moves to make such faith seem folly: "I've seen the sky full of stars."

Call upon ourselves. Call aloud upon one another. Make the future full of stars for every man and woman. Let despots stutter when speaking the name of God.

NEW YORK, 04 February 2003The latest episode finds Yam and Stress battling to reach the bar in a tavern inhabited by would-be partymembers.

Will they be bold enough to avoid adventure? Or is it back to the old dungeon crawl?

Actually, they do avoid being dragged into a party, and manage to end the episode fairly content and plied with drinks. Or does that spoiler you up too much.

THE JUNK DRAWERAXE PAGE STILL #1 AT YAMARA.COM

NEW YORK, 02 February 2003So, when are we going to update our "Oh my god! there's an axe in my head" page? In fact, we've been working on compiling all of the 2002 submissions over January what's hanging us up is German; much as Norse dominated 2001, no good Deutchlander seems at all pleased with the Deutch translation of the golden phrase. So stay tuned, we'll get the update up as soon as we can get this thing sticking out of our Oh my God!

P.S. No we can't translate "Happy Birthday" for anybody.

P.P.S. And NO thank you, we're not looking for any Pig Latin, Morse Code, or any other versions of English, however clever you believe them to be!